Pygmalion Paperback – March 28, 2014

** Spoilers***I don't often write reviews with spoilers, but I can't really explain why I like this book so much without talking about the ending. As with many of my reviews of classics, I find that I must review this book in comparison with the movie that I had seen first. The musical "My Fair Lady" is based off of this play to the point that many scenes are even word-for-word. The differences between the musical and this book, though, is huge in my opinion.The story for both "Pygmalion" and "My Fair Lady" is about both Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Professor Higgins is a linguist who forms a bet with Pickering to covert Eliza from a poor flower girl to a duchess just by cleaning her speech.The musical really focuses on the character development of Professor Higgins. Eliza tries to exert her independence, but she ends up coming back to Higgins like an abused wife comes back to a pouty abusive husband. The costumes and music are so beautiful that we try to believe that Higgins is actually in love with Eliza even though there is absolutely no proof of it. I thought the actors were great in this movie, but I found the story disturbing. The lesson was very male-centric and Eliza's independence meant nothing in the end. She came back to fetch his slippers. Nothing changed for her.From the moment "Pygmalion" was written reader tried to create this sort of love sort between Eliza and Higgins. This caused Mr. Shaw to write a long epilogue explain why a romantic ending such as this was impossible. I completely agree with Mr. Shaw in this."My Fair Lady," portrays inconsistent characters and demeans women. "Pygmalion" is much more consistent and, for a book written by a man, one of the best depictions of women I have ever read.In "Pygmalion," Eliza is actually the focus. Higgins thinks of himself as the perfect Victorian gentleman who is creating a piece of art like in the Greek story of Pygmalion. What we learn in the end, though, is that Eliza was always a person of value even before Higgins came around. Eliza learned to be a lady from Pickering because he treated her like a lady from the beginning. Higgins treated Eliza horribly from the beginning and never stopped. It wasn't Eliza's speech that made her a lady, because we find out she had a fantastic ear for both speech and music, instead, it was actually how she was treated that matters. Higgins never learns this. His horrible manners and rudeness separate him from good society, while Eliza shines wherever she goes. With all the characters of this story, from Freddy to Eliza's father, we learn that there is very little difference between high society and they gutter other than money.Eliza in the end of "Pygmalion" chooses to marry Freddy who loves her. This is as it should be. When being loved and appreciated is so important to Eliza, why would she choose to go back to the horrible treatment of Higgins? Freddy and she open a flower shop with the help of Pickering. Eliza does stay close to Higgins as she does her own awful father, but she has learned self-respect. Once a person learns to value themselves, they can't allow another person to take that away.I know many people who think that this ending is a shame. They like Higgin's bullying ways. I find these are the same people who read romance novels in which male character rapes the female character under the name of "romantic". Even though I like James Bond novels, I most certainly do not agree with his horrible treatment of women. I can like Higgins for who he is, but I am very grateful he chooses to stay a bachelor.Eliza's character has learned to rise up and make her own choices. This isn't a Cinderella story as so many people want it to be. Eliza's soul is still the same. She is a survivor and a fighter. It takes a very strong woman to stand up to a man like Higgins who can twist and turn words to get his way. She is what a woman should be and even gets the support of Higgin's mother in her battle for independence. Mr. Shaw understood well what a woman wants and values. Eliza doesn't try to become a man to fight back. She just fights back.This review may have ruined "My Fair Lady" for you, but I find I can still enjoy the music and costumes just fine. After reading this book, I can even watch the musical with the satisfaction that Eliza doesn't stay in that abusive situation for long. I honestly can enjoy the movie more now after having read the book. Higgins is not Pygmalion even though he wanted to be. Eliza instead is able to show that she always was alive and had value from the very beginning. This is as it should be.I recommend this book to young adults and older. I wish, especially, that women would read this and learn to expect more from their relationships. I wish that woman would look at this portrait of a strong female character and see that you don't have to marry the bully just because you can care about him. Love is more than compassion. I wish that woman would stop writing "romantic" novel based off of abusive relationships. Mr. Shaw is a man who understood women better than many women understand women.One line from "My Fair Lady" that you will never read in "Pygmalion" is "why can't a woman be more like a man?" In many ways, Mr. Shaw actually asks Higgins "why can't you humble yourself enough to learn from Eliza?"

The book isn't as much fun as the movie but goes more deeply into Shaw's reflections on English society and Lisa's feelings. I like it a lot.

I purchased this book as a class reading requirement and found that it is missing entire scenes and many descriptive desktops and lines of the play throughout the entire book. This made it difficult to read along during class activities, and also for the exam on the book. Great play providing insight to the antiquated social class system in Britain and how accent/dialect plays a distinguishing role.

The musical My Fair Lady is a musical version of this play. Set in England in the past, a narcissistic professor of speech trains a lower class flower girl in speech and deportment such that she can pass for a Lady. Unlike the musical, the professor does not have significant character growth. My high schooler enjoyed the musical much more than the play and would give the play only 3 stars.

As an sculptor Higgins works the language and social skills of Eliza, a humble flower girl donned with innate talents. Amazing as Higgins is as a professional he is quite flawed as a social or romantic man. This social clumsiness is bittersweet as makes quite funny parts in the story, but sadly means too that he is not aware of his mistreatment towards his master work. There are no learned lessons: this play, as life, simply happens.If you like U.K. literature (my favorite period is the 19th century) Pygmalion should be in your list to enjoy. Maybe one of the last original examples of the literature from that fantastic country. The more you advance in time, according to the books I've read, the more you see a rather passive literature, one that waits to see what is done in U.S., or creating but for a U.S. audience. In 19th century literature you can feel London as the center of a vast world empire, in Pygmalion you feel London as a neighborhood, but it has to me the same degree of enjoyment and originality as the period I love more in the U.K. literature history.About the AmazonClassics edition is maybe the best edition possible for kindle if you want to enjoy for first time the reading of Pygmalion, or if you are a purist that want to experiment a book without the intrusions of scholars. The only addition is a short biography put, in good taste, at the end of the book. The format is clean, the typography is modern, there are not detectable mistakes, and all AmazonClassics edition have X-Ray, what makes them helpful to check mentions of characters and cultural details that are not that evident in our modern world. So highly recommended edition : )

E' arrivato puntualmente il libro che ho ordinato. Il prezzo mi è sembrato un po' elevato per una vecchia edizione Penguin

Según lo edperado

Había visto My Fair Lady pero haber leído Pygmalion me ha hecho ver lo profunda que es esta obra y lo actual que sigue siendo. Va más allá del enfrentamiento entre clases sociales distintas. Va del respeto a los demás, de la prepotencia, y sobre todo de la manera de ver el mundo los hombres y las mujeres.

Su lectura suscita conexiones con muchas realidades actuales. Y sugiere interesantes reflexiones. Lo leí hace mucho tiempo pero ahora tengo puntos de vista que entonces me faltaban

Really good edition. I had to read it for college . Classical reading. You can find a lot of notes and translation in this edition.